Two suspects were arrested late Thursday afternoon by Essex County sheriff’s detectives at the intersection of Ross Street and Evergreen Avenue in the city’s South Ward and multiple drug charges were filed against them.
Sheriff Armando Fontoura stated that his department’s Bureau of Narcotics conducted a plainclothes surveillance operation at that location yesterday in response to neighborhood complaints of open-air drug trafficking.
According to police, a male suspect, later identified as Rashon McNeil, 28 of Newark, and a female suspect, identified as Tamiyah Jackson, 20 of Elizabeth, were observed loitering in the area, Sheriff Fontoura said.
McNeil soon engaged in a brief conversation with a female passerby who gave cash to McNeil for an item in his jacket pocket.”
The sheriff’s narcotics detectives then announced their presence and detained McNeil.
During a patdown search for officer safety McNeil was found to be in possession of 73 grams of ‘crack’ cocaine, 169 heroin-filled glassine envelopes, stamped “HBO” in red ink, and $570.
When Jackson was asked to produce identification she opened her purse and our officers could readily see an additional 47 decks of heroin.
McNeil was charged with two counts each of possession of a controlled dangerous substance, possession of CDS with intent to distribute and possession of CDS with intent to distribute within 500 feet of a public housing complex.
Jackson was also charged with the possession and intent to distribute CDS.
Both suspects were lodged at the county jail where they await a bail hearing.
A canvass of the area for the female passerby was unsuccessful.